"You're late!"
I almost jumped out of my skin as I dispelled my inconspicuous spell.
My senior was hiding in the darkest corner of the baths, waiting for me to arrive.
"Is that the inconspicuous spell you told me about?" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he walked around me. "That's a very useful spell, I should have asked you to teach me that one so we can just meet in the ground floor instead. I've been here waiting for 12 minutes, you know?"
"I do beg your pardon, senior," I said with a slight bow, "my friend had some trouble sleeping, I gave him a sleeping spell and made sure he was fast asleep before I left."
"Didn't I tell you not to use your magic too often?" he frowned.
"I-it's just a simple sleeping spell!" I said in defense.
"And later you'll be using an inconspicuous spell on the both of us!" he nagged at me. "I bet you plan to use other spells when we reach the library as well."
I wasn't able to refute him.
My senior sighed and shook his head.
"Come on now, let's go before it gets even later."
"Should I place the spell on you now?"
"Yes, please. I wouldn't want to trigger the alarm of the magical artifact by the 5th floor staircase."
"T-there's a magical artifact by the staircase?!" I asked, worrying about our use of the 5th floor baths. "What kind of alarm is it, senior?"
"Don't worry, it only works on me," he replied, "It makes sure that I stay in the dorms all night. Besides, Rian said he already told Prof. Whitman about you. You're just using the baths, after all, the professor's probably turning a blind eye about you coming up here."
I gave a sigh of relief. I guess Senior Rian had also told Prof. Whitman about our group using of the baths every evening.
"Now, let's see if this 'inconspicuous' spell of yours is good enough to thwart his artifact," my senior said with a grin that didn't stop me from feeling anxious.
I had to chant the inconspicuous spell over him twice just to make sure it works doubly well.
"Remember not to utter a single word, or the spell will break," I told him for the third time, holding his hand before chanting the spell upon myself and leading him down the students' dormitory.
Thankfully, we reached the library tower without any issues.
We hardly met any people outside, aside from a couple of school guards making their rounds around campus. Once in the library's vicinity, I led my senior round the back of the vast tower and counted the arched windows that lined the ground floor. I stopped at the 24th window and stood in front of it before placing an inaudible spell around the area, then, using my arm, I pushed on the window, breaking the weakened lock and hinge inside which fell noiselessly to the floor.
"It's open now," I called to my senior, breaking my inconspicuous spell when I did.
"That was fascinating!" he exclaimed as he showed up in front of me. "It was like watching a ghost break into a building!"
"Keep your voice down," I hushed him. "Follow me inside before a guard catches us."
"What about the librarian? Or the Grand Magister up stairs?"
"Senior Melville sleeps in the dorm like everyone else, while Grand Magister Shalem is too busy in his studies to mind about what happens beneath his feet."
I hoisted myself up on to the window sill and turned back to help my senior. He reached his arms up to me. I pulled him up and helped him inside before I entered the room myself. I then fixed the window with a rewind spell which returned it to its original condition.
"Your spells are really amazingly useful," he said as he watched my every action. "What's more, I can't believe how your masking spell can cover all that magic residue. But what I find most hard to believe, is that you were actually strong enough to pull me up that window!" he added with a laugh.
"My bones are quite sturdy, senior," I said with a smile.
"Truth be told, I thought you were older than me when we first met, you're taller than me, after all, and you look older than your age as well, but then again, that's probably due to the mana autophagy. I was surprised when you started calling me senior back then, and thought you simply didn't recognize me. All of the vassals on the 5th floor knew each other after all. I never would have known you were a neophyte if not for the slip of your tongue."
My senior said all of this while we made our way across the ground floor towards the staircase in the center. He kept on talking as we climbed up, panting as he did, until we reached the 16th floor.
"Here it is, the magical books section," I said to silence him. "The books from here, up to the 18th floor, all deal with magic and the occult."
"Oh, at last!" he said excitedly.
I was prepared to listen to another litany of words, but he went straight to the bookshelves and practically forgot about me.
I decided to do the same.
I was engrossed in my second to me about mana control when he called my attention.
"You think we can take some of these books back with us?" called my senior, coming back from the upper floors.
I looked up to see that what he meant by 'some' books was actually a pile that reached up to his chin.
"I can't say, senior, but I'm pretty sure that there are measures in the library to ensure that the books cannot be taken without permission."
"Hmm... that's right. They probably have an alarm that sets off once a book is taken from the library without being checked out properly..."
"Well, we can always read it here..."
"But it's already six am..."
"It is?!" I asked, a bit surprised at how fast the time had passed.
"See?" he pulled out a golden pocket watch from inside his vest.
I looked at the pile of books by my side which I have chosen from the current floor.
"A-and we still have to put the books back to where we got them from..." I mumbled.
"Not exactly."
"What do you mean?"
I watched as my senior placed his pile of books on the table we were using. There were two other piles on his side. He dusted himself, took out a small pouch from his inner pocket, and started to place the books inside it.
"A dimensional pouch!" I gasped. "B-but... that's stealing!"
"Nope. We're just secretly 'borrowing' them," he grinned.
"But, isn't that the same thing?"
"Well, if you think of it this way, these books belong to the empire, and the empire takes taxes from its people, and as people of the empire who pay taxes, it means that these books rightly belong to us as well. Besides, we plan to return it, anyway."
"But... but... even if you place it in a dimensional pouch, wouldn't it still trigger the alarm?"
"That's what we're about to find out!" he replied with a mischievous grin as he started placing my pile of books inside the pouch as well.
"But..."
"Oh, enough of your silly concerns!" he sighed.
"But senior, my concerns are not silly at all!" I complained.
"Aren't you curious to know if items placed in another dimension could still be detected by the library's alarm system?"
That took me a moment to answer.
"W-well, yes, but..."
"No more butts! Just follow me."
"And if the alarm goes off?"
"Then I have you and your handy little spells to depend on."
There was nothing more for me to do but follow my senior down the library, back to the ground floor, where we chose a different window to exit from.
"Are you ready?" I asked as I stood outside the window, while my senior sat on the window sill. His left arm is outstretched inside the library, holding on to the flimsy little pouch containing the magic books.
"Ready!" he called back as he jumped out of the window.
The whole area was suddenly flooded with blinding lights and a blaring alarm that was sure to wake up even the surrounding neighborhood!
I quickly chanted my inconspicuous spell on the both of us, pumping it with as much mana as I could to make sure the spell doesn't break. Then, hand in hand, the two of us ran as fast as we could, towards the dormitory.
We immediately saw a group of guards rushing towards the library. It was a good thing that we decided not to walk on the paved pathway. We stood stationary by a line of pine trees leading to the woods as we watched them rush past us. Several other guards followed after them, as well as some professors who were still dressed in their sleeping gowns.
I was about to run towards the dorms again as soon as they were out of sight, but my senior pulled me deeper into the woods where he conjured a strong wind that flew us up into the air and dropped us unceremoniously at the top of the dormitories!
"Break our fall!" he called out to me as we fell.
I was able to conjure a gust of wind before we landed on the 5th floor balcony.
"Now, hurry and take all your clothes off," he told me as he pulled me towards the baths.
"E-excuse me?" I asked, still feeling a bit out of sorts.
"Take off your clothes and get in the pool!" he insisted.
I did as I was told and jumped right into the pool as soon as I took my clothes off. We were still catching our breaths when we heard footsteps approaching. I started to panic, looking for a place to hide, when my senior placed a bubble of air around my head and dunked me beneath the water, placing his leg on top of my chest to keep me from floating up.
I spent the next couple of minutes or so like that.
I had no idea what was happening above me. All I knew was that some people came inside the bath. I could vaguely see their silhouettes beneath the pool. They seem to be asking my senior some questions, then left briefly afterwards.
My senior finally took his leg off me, and I was able to float back up, only to be face to face with the dorm head, Prof. Whitman.
"P-professor..." I stuttered, not knowing what to say.
"See, I told you, it's just the two of us here," said my senior.
Prof. Whitman looked at me with disinterest. He held his leather-bound book to his chest with his left hand, and a cane with the other.
"I-I'm sorry, professor," I said, bowing my head, "I-I just come here every so often to spend time with my senior..."
"He's a brilliant chess player, you know?" my senior praised me. "I haven't won a game against him, yet."
"And you've been in here all this time?" the professor asked suspiciously.
"Well," my senior looked around the bath, "obviously. Where else should I be?"
I was surprised at how rudely he answered!
"What happened outside anyway?" he asked the professor. "What was all that noise about?"
"It seems that someone broke inside the library," Prof. Whitman replied while eyeing us both. "They are currently searching the campus for the culprit."
"The library, huh? Isn't that a bit too far from here? The culprit must still be hiding around the academy grounds right now."
"That may be so, but you and Patrick here are the only ones who are currently not in their respective rooms."
"Well, this is the time I take my baths, after all," my senior replied nonchalantly. "Why not check Nigellus' residence? Or are they immune from suspicion since he's the first crown prince?"
Prof. Whitman glared at my senior. I couldn't even look at him straight when he turned to face me.
"And stop scaring my friend," my senior added. "I'll hold you responsible if he decides not to visit me again!"
"S-senior!" I gasped at his rude remark. "P-please don't mind him, professor, I-I'm just ashamed that you found me here like this, next time, I'll ask your permission properly to visit my senior here in the baths."
"It's alright," Prof. Whitman replied with a deep, tired, sigh. "Just go back to your room before someone else questions you here." He looked back at my senior and gave another sigh. "The same goes to you, Ethan," he called to my senior with a frown. "Just stay low until your probation is over."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," mumbled my senior.
So, his name is Ethan.
Well, he did learn my name from the professor, too, so I guess we're even.
"I should really head back now," I told him as I stepped out of the pool, wondering where I heard that name before.
"Then, let's leave together," said the professor.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Patrick!" my senior waved at me with a big grin.
"Now remember, Ethan," Prof. Whitman glared back at him. "Stay low."